Petrol may get cheaper by up to Rs2.38 per litre from 15 August

State-run oil marketing companies are likely to cut petrol prices by Rs1.86 to Rs2.38 per litre from the midnight of 14/15 August, minister of petroleum and natural gas Dharmendra Pradhan said today.

The reduction in prices is expected following a fall in the international prices of crude oil amidst rising supplies and falling demand.

Public sector oil marketing companies revise petrol price on the 1st and 16th of every month based on average international oil price and rupee-dollar exchange rate in the previous fortnight.

This will be the second reduction in rates this month. Oil firms had last cut rates on 1 August by Rs1.09 per litre, the first reduction in price since mid-April.

Petrol currently costs Rs72.51 per litre in Delhi.

Prices of benchmark Brent crude oil has fallen to $103.70 a barrel, its lowest rate since November 2013 as crude supplies increased, pushing up market stockpiles.

Saudi Arabia's supplies are running at the highest level since last September and crude from Libya is back on the market.

Iraq has scheduled to export about 2.4 million barrels per day of Basra Light crude in September, up from 2.2 million in the previous month.

The government had in June 2010 freed petrol prices and since then rates have moved in tandem with the cost on most occasions.

For diesel, however, prices are likely to go up by 50 paise as mandated b the government. The government had in January 2013 decided to eliminate the subsidy on diesel in stages through monthly increases in prices by up to 50 paise per litre till the subsidy is done away with.

With monthly increases continuing, subsidy or losses on diesel have been trimmed to Rs 1.33 per litre but this will go up as there is a marginal increase in international gasoil (diesel) prices.

Diesel price revision is due only on 1 September as per the policy of raising rates every month.